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Reuters reported missile test plans on Tuesday

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Report cited US researchers and Western security source

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Ukraine says Moscow sees missile test as diplomatic

leverage

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Russian defense ministry, Pentagon and CIA have declined

to

comment

By Tom Balmforth and Jonathan Landay

LONDON/WASHINGTON Aug 15 (Reuters) -

Russia is preparing to test its new nuclear-capable,

nuclear-powered cruise missile and if successful, plans to use

the results to bolster its negotiating position with the West,

Ukrainian military intelligence said on Friday.

Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for the service, issued the

written statement to Reuters just before U.S. President Donald

Trump was due to hold talks in Alaska with Russian President

Vladimir Putin on ending Moscow's war in Ukraine.

He did not give an assessment of the possible timing of the

test in the statement, given in response to questions submitted

by Reuters for a report published on Tuesday that Moscow was

preparing to test the 9M730 Burevestnik cruise missile.

He did not say how his service arrived at its assessment. It

has for years received intelligence from the United States and

its NATO allies, and it has its own networks inside Russia.

Reuters on Tuesday reported two U.S. researchers and a

Western security source as saying that Moscow was readying a

test of the Burevestnik at its Pankovo test site on the Barents

Sea archipelago of Novaya Zemlya.

The researchers said imagery from Planet Labs, a commercial

satellite firm, showed extensive activities at the site,

increases in personnel and equipment and the presence of ships

and aircraft associated with previous tests of the weapon dubbed

the SSC-X-9 Skyfall by NATO.

The Russian defense ministry, the Pentagon and the CIA

declined to comment for that report. The White House did not

comment directly on whether a test was being prepared, saying in

response to a question about it that Trump wanted peace in

Ukraine.

Yusov said Moscow, which has threatened to use nuclear

weapons over the Ukraine war, saw a test as diplomatic leverage.

"Russia is preparing for another round of tests of the 9M730

Burevestnik," his statement said. "The purpose of these tests is

to validate scientific and technical solutions implemented by

the missile."

"If successful, Russia will leverage the test results to

defend its interests in negotiations with the West," he

continued.

Putin has said the weapon is "invincible" to missile

defenses, with an almost unlimited range and unpredictable

flight path.

But many experts say it is unclear if the missile can evade

defenses, would not give Moscow capabilities it does not already

have, and would spew radiation.

The Burevestnik has a poor test record, according to the

Nuclear Threat Initiative advocacy group, with two partial

successes among 13 known tests.